Female leaders in an international evangelical mission organisation: an empirical study of Youth With A Mission in Germany

Evangelicals are frequently perceived as conservative, for instance in their perspective on women. There is indeed a widespread evangelical hierarchical or complementarian theological view which objects to women in church leadership. There is, however, a growing egalitarian counter position, sometimes also referred to as “evangelical feminism”, which supports female leadership. This article concentrates on the international missionary organisation Youth With A Mission (YWAM), which clearly endorses female leaders in formal statements. In YWAM Germany, however, women are under-represented in leadership positions. The article seeks to explain this under-representation, especially in terms of the role played by Scripture. By means of interviews with leaders in YWAM Germany, possible answers were explored. Surprisingly, for an evangelical organisation, the interpretation of Scripture proved not to be a significant factor. Factors that do play a role are church background, the lack of female role models, lower self-confidence of women, family responsibilities, and the role of incumbent leadership. The latter appears to be the most crucial factor, since the incumbent leaders, who mostly are men, select and appoint new leaders. It is likely that in this they are influenced by stereotypical conceptions of the leader as male and are inclined to appoint leaders similar to themselves

To prompt or to praise?:Effective components of behavioral parent training for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the role of attachment

Behavioral parent training (BPT) as treatment for children with ADHD has been found effective in numerous studies. There is little knowledge about the most effective components of these programs, and which components are most effective for whom. Insights into these matters could contribute to more personalized treatment. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to examine which components of BPT for ADHD drive intervention effects, and for whom.Techniques focusing on the manipulation of antecedents of behavior (antecedent-based techniques) and contingency management techniques (consequent-based techniques) were found to be key components of BPT for children with ADHD in two meta-regression analyses. To examine the components in isolation, a microtrial was conducted with two sessions of BPT in antecedent-based techniques, two sessions in consequent-based techniques, and a waitlist control-condition. Both types of techniques improved problem behaviors. Antecedent-based techniques appeared to be especially important to target inattention. In a series of replicated single-case experiments no added efficacy of consequent-based techniques on top of antecedent-based techniques, and no effects of antecedent-based techniques alone was demonstrated. Differences between the two experimental studies may be the result of the different designs, timing of the treatment or medication-use. To explore attachment in relation to ADHD, this thesis examined two samples of children with and without ADHD, using two different methods to measure attachment. Children with ADHD had less secure, and more ambivalent and disorganized attachment representations relative to their typically developing peers when using a story-stem-task, but these differences were not found using self-report questionnaires. Lastly, findings in this thesis tentatively suggest that techniques are differentially effective based on attachment representation

Attitudes of Women Toward Career Apparel Uniforms and the Relation to Personality Traits

Recently there has been a movement toward what Has been termed “corporate itentity”. One means of achieving this identity is by attiring the employee in a uniform mode of dress. Then uniform then becomes a means of identifying an employee with a specific occupation or business enterprise. Research, which has been conducted concerning professional uniforms, has placed little emphasis on determining how the employee themselves felt about wearing a uniform. It has been stated that uniforms are an asset to the business organization itself, but the merits of wearing a uniform must also be evaluated in terms of the employee as an individual. It has not been determined whether wearinf a uniform has benefits for the employee or if it has a negative influence on their individuality. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitude whixh employees wearing Career Apparel uiforms have towards their uniforms. Also, it was planned to investigate whether siginificant relationships between selected personality traits and the degree to which the employees like or dislike their uniforms

Kinkeeping across families:The central role of mothers and stepmothers in the facilitation of adult intergenerational ties

A kinkeeper is the person within the household that is involved in the management of family relationships, a position traditionally fulfilled by women. Due to the increased complexity of family life, which resulted from the rise in divorce and remarriage, the kinkeeper role might nowadays be particularly important but also more ambiguous. First, we examined differences in parental involvement in kinkeeping (buying presents, organizing outings, relaying family news, and discussing problems) along the lines of gender, family structure, and biological relatedness. Second, we explored whether the kinkeeping of parents and their partners is effective in the facilitation of intergenerational closeness with adult children. We used the OKiN survey, which includes information on kinkeeping in N = 746 intact, N = 982 mother-stepfather, and N = 1,010 father-stepmother families. Findings indicated a central facilitative role for mothers and stepmothers. Substantial gaps were found between mothers and fathers, married and divorced parents, and biological and stepparents with respect to the (variety of) kinkeeping in which these parents were involved. Yet, the contrasts of biological relatedness and family structure were also found to be gendered, as these gaps were smaller for mothers than fathers. Finally, an association was found between adult closeness with biological parents and the kinkeeping of the spouse, regardless of the nature of the relationship between the spouse and adult child. This implies that a stepmother can be just as effective as a married biological mother in facilitating the ties between a father and his biological children

Clot-promoting effect of platelet-vessel wall interaction:Influence of dietary fats and relation to arterial thrombus formation in rats

Abstract. A small piece of vascular tissue punched from a rat aorta is able to clot plasma. This coagulation plocess is promoted by blood platelets, especially after their activation. Thrombin, generated by this clotting process, plays a key role in vessel-wall induced platelet activation. Vascular prostacyclin inhibits vessel-wall-induced clotting of platelet-rich plasma, possibly by inhibiting platelet activation. Type and amount of dietary fats were shown to influence vessel-wall-induced clotting via at least four different mecha-nisms, namely: by modifying vascular prostacyclin formation; by affecting the clotting potency of the vascular tissue per sec; by an effect on some platelet property, probably connected with platelet activation; by influencing a plasma factor. Each of these mechanisms, as well as the nature of vessel-wall-induced coagulation, requires further investigation. lntroduction When investigating dietary influences on vascular prostacyclin formation, we noticed that a piece of tissue punch€d from a rat or rabbit aorta is able to clot platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Since this coagulation process may be important i